The nickel-hydrogen battery was first used for satellite energy storage aboard the U.S. Navy's Navigation Technology Satellite-2 (NTS-2). A flight demonstration of this new battery was the prime object of the joint Navy/INTELSAT program. The battery's successful performance proves its usefulness for future satellite applications. The nickel-hydrogen battery supplied spacecraft power for one 30-day eclipse season during which two eclipse periods occurred daily, lasting no longer than one hour. Its unique cell reversal feature was successfully demonstrated several times when the battery was inadvertently discharged completely because the solar array lost track of the sun. The nickel-hydrogen battery also uses a novel concept in which temperature is used for charge control. Strain gauges measure cell pressure, thereby providing information which permits a direct appraisal of the battery's state of charge. The use of cell pressure to control the rate of charge also can be considered a suitable method. This paper describes the results of the environmental test program along with the prelaunch and orbital performance through one eclipse season.

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